Malik Cunningham was the star of the Patriots first preseason game against the Texans, showing off a skillset the franchise has never had at QB.
In a game that lacked excitement as the Texans won 20-9, Cunningham replaced Trace McSorely on the Patriots final drive, leading them 75 yards down the field for a touchdown. He finished the game as the Patriots leading rusher with 34 yards on 5 carries. Also had a beautiful touchdown pass dropped by Tre Nixon earlier in the drive, before completing 3 of 4 passes for 19 yards.
Talking heads and fans haven’t stopped going off about Cunningham since, with Pat McAfee questioning on a daily basis how he went undrafted out of Louisville. Despite directly following Lamar Jackson at Louisville in 2018, there was never the same amount of success or hype surrounding Cunningham. Still, there were plenty of flashes of the ridiculous athleticism that everyone has been falling in love with.
Over 5 seasons, Cunningham threw for 9,660 passing yards and 70 touchdowns. What he did in the running game was his biggest strength though, accumulating 3,179 yards and 50 touchdowns over that stretch. That rushing touchdown total tied Jackson for the all-time record at Louisville.
Despite not being drafted though, Cunningham signing with the Patriots was still a historic moment. He inked the highest-guarantee for a UDFA in franchise history at $200,000. Not entirely shocking considering how much the Patriots had liked Jackson in the draft before the Ravens took him.
It was only a year ago that the Patriots signeda player with a similar skillset, but an even rawer overall profile in D’Eriq King out of the University of Miami. He was also an undrafted free agent like Cunningham.
So, let’s take a look at some of the plays that stood out from Cunningham’s college career. While he’s been getting work at both wide receiver and quarterback during camp, that wasn’t the case at Louisville.
